The present invention relates to an embedded subscriber identity module (SIM) also known as an embedded universal integrated circuit chip (eUICC), and it relates more particularly to an eUICC card suitable for performing appropriate processing relating to a communication profile, such as an operation to activate or deactivate a profile, for example.
In known manner, a SIM card is configured to enable a communication device (such as a mobile telephone, for example) with which it co-operates to make use of the communication network of a single network operator. To do this, the SIM card includes in particular a unique identifier known as an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) that is associated with a particular subscription of a user with a given mobile network operator.
When a mobile telephone seeks to use the services of a communication network, it sends the IMSI identifier of its SIM card to the network in order to identify itself with the network. In order to authenticate itself with the network, the mobile telephone also sends a secret key that is contained in the SIM card. The operator users a database known as a home location register (HLR) to verify that the user has indeed subscribed to the requested service, and if so, authorizes the mobile telephone in question to access the service.
Conventionally, subscription data (identifiers, keys, algorithms, . . . ) specific to the operator that issued the SIM card are stored in permanent manner in a read only memory (ROM) of the SIM card so that the SIM card is not reprogrammable. This serves in particular to reduce the risk of fraud relating to the identity of the user by making it more difficult to modify or duplicate the SIM card or its subscription data.
Consequently, the only way that a user can change mobile network operator is generally by manually replacing a current SIM card in the mobile telephone with a new SIM card issued by a new operator selected by the user. The new SIM card contains the subscription data necessary for accessing the network and the services belonging to the new operator.
The emergence of reprogrammable SIM cards, and in particular of embedded subscriber identity modules (also known as eUICC cards, as mentioned above), enables a user to change operator without it being necessary to physically replace the SIM card in the mobile telephone. The main characteristics of an eUICC card are defined in the document entitled “Reprogrammable SIMS: technology, evolution, and implications—final report” dated Sep. 25, 2012 (by CSMG). That document drawn up for the global system for mobile communications association (GSMA) defines an eUICC card as a small trusted hardware component, which may be soldered into mobile devices in order to perform the functions of a traditional SIM card.
In particular, an eUICC card is suitable for containing a communication profile that, when active, enables the mobile telephone to have secure access to the network of an operator and to the services defined by the profile in question. By changing the communication profile that is active in the eUICC card, it is also possible to change operator or to modify access to associated services (e.g. voice or data services).
The use of an eUICC card is advantageous in particular when it is difficult to replace a traditional SIM card physically and, more generally, when it is desired to be able to switch easily from one operator to another.
Nevertheless, the specification and the standardization concerning the operation and the hardware of an eUICC card are still under development and call for improvements. In particular, there does not exist at present any satisfactory solution for managing the activation or the deactivation of a communication profile in an eUICC card. More generally, there exists a need for a solution that enables an eUICC card to manage communication profiles effectively.